More Florida Fun

A couple more videos from our FL trip that are pretty darn cute.

First up, one of Olive loving the hotel swimming pool:

Second, Olive and Sienna reading books and chatting:

I love how Sienna pronounces Olive's tough name: O-woof. :)

Disney!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we flew to Orlando to be with Sam's extended family. Sam's parents thought that as long as we were all going to be there, we should do a day at Disney World with Olive and her cousin Sienna (who is also 2). To say it was a day to remember would be an understatement. Watching 2 year olds take in Disney was pretty remarkable. All these new experiences as a parent we never thought of! Sam and I both agreed that watching Olive see the characters, go on the rides, and feel the magic that is Disney was really, really neat.

There isn't really a better way to tell you about Disney than to show, so if you're unprepared for tons of photos of our kid, now is a good time to move on!

Here are Charlie, Sienna, Sam and Olive waiting for the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom:

View from the ferry, you can see the castle:

Olive and Grandma on the ferry:

Jason, Charlie and Sam:

Sienna riding on Micaela's shoulders:

Our first view of the castle:

Ride #1, It's a Small World:

Inside It's a Small World:

A video from inside:

Waiting in line for Dumbo, wearing Minnie ears Uncle Jason bought for the girls:

Still in line for Dumbo:

Olive and Grandpa on Dumbo:

Waiting in line to meet Ariel, needed a snack already:

Ariel and Olive:

This was a major highlight, and I'm so glad we waited for 40 minutes to meet her, since Olive had been telling everyone that she was going to see Ariel at Disney:

Did I mention that we waiting in line a lot? Probably 60% of our time was waiting in line. It got a bit boring at times:

Micaela discovered that a double stroller provides room for an adult to get a break, too:

Still in line:

We made it! Worth the wait to meet Tigger and Pooh. Olive even gave them hugs:

For some reason there was no line for the carousel, we should have gone on it a few more times:

The girls, catching a ride:

A hug at the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse:

Show at the castle:

The girls couldn't tear their eyes away from the show for a photo:

Next we went on the jungle cruise, but first we waiting in the longest line ever. The sign said 35 minutes, and we waited over an hour. Olive and Sam entertained one another:

Finally on the Jungle Boat Cruise:

Mickey treat while waiting for the parade to start:

Parade highlights:

A video of the parade:

Can you tell Olive was getting tired by this point?:

Well, she was. After the parade she fell asleep while we were in line for the Peter Pan ride:

Final photo in front of the castle:

Had to stop for goodies of course:

Heading back to the car on the tram, Olive telling Grandpa and Grandma something exciting:

We all commented that we were amazed the little girls did so well. Neither of them ever got upset, melted down, or even got frustrated. It seems amazing to spend 8 hours at Disney with 2 two year olds and not have a tear shed! But we did it, and they both had such a fun time. It seems so cliche to use words like "magical" in association with a theme park. But really, it was, and it is. To see these girls take in the magic of it all was so much fun. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma, this is a trip none of us will soon forget!

Tiny Artist

Olive has been very into all things art lately, scissors, glue, glitter, paint, crayons, markers. You name it, she's done it.

Often, she gets so serious that her little tongue comes out in concentration:

Her artwork is piling up, and getting fancier as the days go by!

Pre-Thanksgiving

It's always good to practice something to make sure you're good at it. This weekend Matt and Jessica hosted a pre-Thanksgiving meal since we're all heading different directions for Thanksgiving next week.

Like any good Thanksgiving, there was way too much food:

Olive and Irene at their special table:

Cutest nephew ever at the big table:

And really, what's better after a big meal than snuggling on the couch and watching Sesame Street?

Nana and Irene on one end:

Papa and Olive at the other:

And then we napped.

Play Doh

Olive and I decided to try and make our own play doh last week. I found what was billed as a "no fail" recipe online and we went for it. It was a fun project, but the final product was not as play doh like as I'd hoped.

Ready to start mixing:

Flour and salt (we were low on salt, so maybe that's why it didn't turn out too well):

Adding the oil:

Deciding on color, originally she wanted pink (of course!), but then adding the dye was so much fun that she wanted to add some blue, too, so we decided on purple:

Mixing (see how sticky it looks? It was as sticky as it looks):

It was still worth playing with, and she's played with it several times since then:

Next time, we'll try a different recipe, and add more food coloring for a brighter color!